LA WeeklyBy Electra Keller
Armin van Buuren
May 3, 2013
Dutch trance DJ Armin van Buuren has been a fan favorite since the '90s, many times the #1 spinner by DJ Magazine's ranking. He co-owns label Armada music and hosts a popular radio series, A State of Trance.
On Friday, on tour to promote his fifth album, Intense, his first stop was the Hollywood Palladium. He brought it. The night went something like this:
10pm: As soon as I walked in the door, I felt that euphoric feeling when the bass is amped up.
11pm: One of the best things about going to an EDM concert is seeing all the weirdoes and their costumes. At first it was mostly people dressed casualy but around 11 the weirdoes showed up — one girl had a picture of Nicolas Cage taped to her face.
11:53pm: Inside the designated photography area, I'm redirected to the other side; everyone begins chanting “Armin.” I got myself situated, but this was a horrible angle for pictures. Oh well.
12am: Van Buuren makes his grand entrance. The crowd starts screaming, and during his first three songs I am trying like hell to get a few good pictures.
12:15am: He says hello and tells us how special we are to be the first to hear Intense played live.
12:50am: Ron Jeremy makes a brief appearance on stage just before the song “This is What it Feels Like.” Vocalist Trevor Guthrie shows up on stage to sing the song.
1:25am: Emma Hewitt joins van Buuren on stage to sing a few of his songs including a remix of Cosmic Gate's “Be Your Sound.”
1:45am I started feeling sweaty and needed some fresh air. But when I got to the Palladium's patio on the second floor there was a huge crowd of people, and I decided to leave right away — too crowded and too much cigarette smoke.
Credit: Electra Keller
2am: I sat down for a minute, and was joined by a big group. One of its members, a guy, started doing a light show. It ended pretty much right away, when a security guard told us all to get up.
See also: 'Gloving' Light Shows Dominate Raves, Stir Controversy
2:50am: van Buuren: “Today was the release of Intense and it is already number one in 20 countries.” Hmmm. “I will never forget this night. I will never forget you, Los Angeles.” That's sweet.
3:55am: The final hour of his four hour set was the most aggressive. Many who were sitting all night got their asses up and raged with the rest of us. He played some of my favorite tracks, like “Who Is Afraid of 138,” “The Expedition” and “Communication.”
3:56am: He thanks everyone for coming, and thanks all the special guest stars. Trevor Guthrie re-enters and they perform an encore of “This is What it Feels Like.”
The Crowd: They seemed a bit tame for an EDM concert. Mostly young adults in their early twenties with an occasional older person here and there. There was a good mix of ethnicities.
Overheard in the Crowd: “We aren't sisters we're best friends. We spend so much time together that we just kind of molded into the same person and that's why we look alike.”
Random Notebook Dump: Yay to the light up glasses used for serving cocktails.
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